Object for adorning footwear

ABSTRACT

An object for adorning footwear including either a generally trapezoidal and planar main piece composed of flexible, resilient material, or a main piece preformed to have a generally ribbon-shaped configuration with a strip of generally planar material twisted one half turn to form a loop in a mid portion, with the strip crossing in an interface area, with two free ends with diagonally oriented ends extending below the loop and interface area, and an attachment configured for selectively attaching and detaching corresponding sections of said main piece to each other in the interface area, in order to form said main piece into a generally looped ribbon shape, wherein a through passageway is formed through the loop when said attachment is engaged.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/234,611, filed Aug. 17, 2009.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns an object for adorning footwear, more particularly, an ornamental object configured to be releasably attached to a footwear product on a portion of the footwear such as a shoelace.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It has become increasingly popular for members of the general population to display items that bring attention to a particular charitable cause, such as cancer research. For example a growing number of people display a magnetic ribbon shaped decal on surfaces such as a car. In general these items are of a specific color or color scheme in order to make the particular charitable cause easily identifiable. In addition, individuals have been wearing these specific items on their persons. A well known example of this has been for people to wear a yellow rubber bracelet supporting the “LIVESTRONG” Foundation.

In addition to the general population, those who hold a more visible position in society, such as professional athletes, have been attempting to find ways to use their public platform to promote specific charitable causes. One such way they have done this is to display items on their persons such as the bracelets discussed above. While the rubber bracelet has been acceptable to a certain number of athletes, many feel uncomfortable wearing adornment upon their wrist. Specifically, athletes, such as golfers, feel that items worn at the wrist may be a distraction or may actually interfere with their athletic performance.

Accordingly, an item is needed that can be worn by a person while being both minimally noticeable to the person wearing the item while being maximally visible to other persons.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general, one embodiment of the present invention provides an item which can be fastened to an article of clothing, such as a shoe lace or shoe, in order to form a shape generally corresponding to a ribbon. The item is formed from a generally trapezoidal planar main piece, in which the main piece is significantly longer in one direction than in the opposite direction. The main piece may be composed of a flexible yet resilient material. On the main piece, attachment portions are included. This attachment portions are configured to allow selective attaching and detaching of corresponding sections of the main piece in order to form a general ribbon shape. Furthermore, the attachment portions are generally configured to be equidistance from a center line dividing the main piece long ways. The attachment portions are also generally configured such that one portion is on a top side of the main piece while the corresponding portion is on a bottom side of the main piece. The main piece may contain lettering on a top side to possibly identify a specific cause being advanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a top side of a ribbon in an unassembled configuration in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bottom side thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof of the ribbon in an assembled configuration.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a plan view and a side elevation view, respectively, thereof, of another exemplary embodiment of a ribbon of the invention in an unassembled configuration.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another exemplary embodiment of a main piece of the ribbon of the invention in the unassembled configuration.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary attachment for use with the main piece of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the exemplary attachment of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the main piece of FIG. 5 and attachment of FIG. 6 in an assembled configuration showing the assembled ribbon.

FIG. 9 is a top side view of another exemplary configuration of a ribbon having a generally boomerang shaped unassembled configuration.

FIG. 10 is a top side view of yet another exemplary configuration of a ribbon having a generally boomerang shaped unassembled configuration.

FIG. 11 is a top side view of a further exemplary configuration of a ribbon having a generally boomerang shaped unassembled configuration.

FIG. 12 is a side view of two ribbons of the invention secured to shoelaces of a shoe.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an exemplary ribbon of the invention in an assembled configuration

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A general representation of the invention in an unassembled configuration is shown in FIG. 1. A generally elongated trapezoidal planer main piece 10 of flexible, resilient material is provided. A first exemplary attachment portion 12 can comprise, for example, a hole with slits at a top and bottom of the hole. The first exemplary attachment portion 12 and a corresponding second exemplary attachment portion 14, which is preferably detachably engageable with the first attachment portion 12, are configured to allow selective attachment and detachment of opposite sides 16 and 18 of the main piece 10. The second attachment section 14 is on an opposite side of the main piece 10 and its relative location is shown in FIG. 1. The section 14 in its entirety can be seen in FIG. 2. The generally elongated trapezoidal planer main piece 10 can preferably have two diagonally slanted ends 20 and 22.

FIG. 2 shows the side opposite that shown in FIG. 1. Attachment portion 14 comprises a knob like protrusion extending from the main piece 10 wherein a base 24 of the protrusion 14 is of a narrower diameter than the top 26. The hole of the attachment portion 12 is configured to receive and retain the protruding knob of the attachment section 14 such that about one half of the main piece may be selective placed across the remain half and secured in that position, as is shown in FIG. 3, to give the appearance of a ribbon. The attachment portions are generally shown as a hole and a knob like protrusion by way of example only. In an alternate embodiment, these items may be of any type suitable for the purpose. For example the attachment portions may comprise a plurality of hooks and loops, a button/snap arrangement, a magnetic configuration, hook and loop materials, etc.

FIG. 3 shows the invention in the assembled ribbon configuration. In this configuration attachment portions 12 and 14 are connected, as described above, so as to form the ribbon shape. In the ribbon configuration, the main piece 10 delimits a passageway 28 at essentially a midpoint of a length of the main piece 10, while opposing ends 20 and 22 of the main piece 10 extend away from this midpoint and a away from the intersection of the attachment portions 12 and 14. This passageway 28 is intended to allow through passage of an item, such as a shoelace (not shown) in order to secure the invention on a footwear item. Of course, the passageway 28 can be used for securing around other objects, such as a necklace chains and strings, and could depending on the situation, be looped through eyelets, e.g., of a shoe.

In practice, a user may first feed one of the long ends of the main piece 10 behind a shoelace. The main piece 10 is then secured in front of the shoelace via mating the corresponding attachment portions 12 and 14. To release, the user simply disengages the attachment portions 12 and 14 and then withdraws the main piece 10 from its threaded position through the shoelace. The main piece is lightweight and, when worn, its presence will be completely unrestrictive of the user. Yet, the main piece 10 allows for an obvious display of colors and/or graphics, etc. As such, the main piece 10 is configured to be releaseably attached to a user while being both minimally noticeable to the user and maximally visible to otherwise.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B show a top plan view and a side elevation view, respectively, of a slight variation of the main piece 30. The first exemplary attachment portion 32 comprises a hole (without a slit). The hole 32 widens from the bottom side 38 to the top side 36 of the main piece 30. A protruding knob 34 widens out as it extends downwardly from the bottom side 38 and is sized to establish a snapping fit with the hole 32, which widens from top 36 to bottom, as is shown in FIG. 4B.

FIGS. 5-8 shows another embodiment of a ribbon assembly 50 having an elongated main piece 52 and an attachment portion 60, with FIG. being a top plan view thereof. Here, the attachment portion is a separate piece 60 inserted at least partially through open holes 54 and 56 extending through two distinct portions of an elongated main piece 52 to hold the elongated main piece in a ribbon configuration as shown in FIG. 8 In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the separate piece 60 is inserted through both of the holes 54 and 56 when the elongated main piece 52 is twisted into a ribbon configuration and the holes 54 and 56 are aligned. The separate piece 60 can comprises two wider ends 62 and 64 and a joining section 66, with the joining section 66 being long enough such that when the separate piece 60 is engaged with elongated main piece 52, the joining section 66 will pass through the holes and the two wider ends 62 and 64 will hold the elongated main piece 52 in a ribbon configuration. The separate piece 60 is configured to friction fit to releaseably secure the two sides of the main piece together so as to form the assembled ribbon configuration, as shown in FIG. 8.

FIGS. 9-11 illustrate three similar exemplary alternate exemplary embodiments of ribbon 70A, 70B and 70C according to the invention. Here the main pieces 72 have angled, or a generally boomerang shape. That is, the main pieces 72 have two sections 74 and 76 that are angled at about a midpoint 78A at about 120 degrees. The main pieces 72 in these embodiments include the attachment portions as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3 and 4A and 4G. The angled nature of the main piece facilitates assembly and encourages the ribbon, when assembled, to maintain a downward orientation. In the embodiment of FIG. 9. the two sections 74 and 76 join up without any change in dimension. In the embodiment of FIG. 10. the two sections 74 and 76 join up with a cutoff midpoint 78B, so that the main piece has a narrower neck at the vertex of the angle. In the embodiment of FIG. 11. the two sections 74 and 76 join up with a dipping in the midpoint 78C, so that the main piece has a narrower neck at the vertex of the angle. This narrower neck feature further promotes assembly of the ribbon and maintains a flat downward orientation.

FIG. 12 shows two ribbons 10, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, releasably secured to a shoelace of a shoe S.

FIG. 13 shows a ribbon arrangement 80 in still another embodiment of the invention. Here, the main piece is curvilinear in shape but still includes the attachment portions described above (with a hole and protrusions, such as shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 4A and 4B) such that the main piece may be overlapped upon itself to form a ribbon configuration as shown and secured in that position to form the assembled ribbon with the passageway for securement about a shoelace. The ribbon arrangement has a loop region 82, with two free ends 84 with diagonally slanted ends 84, and an interface region 86 where the attachment portions are located.

The object for adorning footwear described herein may be constructed in various sizes, various thicknesses, and of any desired material of sufficient strength and pliability characteristics.

The object for adorning footwear as described herein is preferably intended for use with footwear. However, it may be used with any appropriate object. For example, the object for adorning footwear may be displayed around a belt loop, or around a strap on an item such as a backpack, helmet, glove, a portion of a bicycle, etc. As noted above, in lieu of a hole and/slit plus protrusion, other conventional attachment means can be used, such as hook and loop material, hook and hook material, snaps, clips, magnets, etc., can be used with the embodiments noted hereinabove.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, while exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications and variations can be made to the present apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the various embodiments have been described by way of illustration and not limitation. 

1. An object for adorning footwear comprising: a generally trapezoidal and planar main piece composed of flexible, resilient material; and an attachment configured for selectively attaching and detaching corresponding sections of said main piece to each other, in order to form said main piece into a generally looped ribbon shape, wherein a through passageway is formed when said multiple attachment portions are in an attached configuration.
 2. The object for adorning footwear of claim 1, wherein said object for adorning footwear is configured to be attached to a shoelace.
 3. The object for adorning footwear of claim 1, wherein said attachment comprises a knob-like protrusion formed to extend from one side of the main piece and at least one of a corresponding slit and/or hole for receiving said knob like protrusion.
 4. The object for adorning footwear of claim 3, wherein said knob-like protrusion is formed with the main piece.
 5. The object for adorning footwear of claim 1, wherein said attachment comprises a plurality of hook and loop type attachment means located on different sides of the main piece.
 6. The object for adorning footwear of claim 1, wherein said main piece has two spaced apertures formed through a wider flat surface of the main piece, and the attachment comprises an object separate from the main piece, which separate object comprises two spaced apart protrusions with a narrower joining section, which separate object will frictionally fit into the two apertures when the main piece is folded into a ribbon configuration with the two apertures aligned, which separate object will retain the main piece in the ribbon configuration.
 7. An object for adorning footwear comprising: a main piece with two arm sections that are angled apart from each other and composed of flexible, resilient material; and an attachment configured for selectively attaching and detaching corresponding sections of said main piece to each other, in order to form said main piece into a generally looped ribbon shape, wherein a through passageway is formed when said multiple attachment portions are in an attached configuration.
 8. The object for adorning footwear of claim 7, wherein said attachment comprises a knob-like protrusion extending from one side of the main piece on a first arm section, and at least one of a corresponding slit and/or hole for receiving said knob like protrusion that is formed through a second arm section.
 9. The object for adorning footwear of claim 8, wherein said knob-like protrusion is formed with the main piece.
 10. The object for adorning footwear of claim 7, wherein said with two arm sections are diagonally angled at their free ends.
 11. An object for adorning footwear comprising: a main piece composed of flexible, resilient material preformed to have a generally ribbon-shaped configuration with a strip of material twisted one half turn to form a loop in a mid portion, with the strip crossing in an interface area, and with the strip having two free diagonally slanted ends extending below the loop and interface area, and an attachment configured for selectively attaching and detaching corresponding sections of said main piece to each other in the interface area in order to retain said main piece into a generally looped ribbon shape, wherein a through passageway is formed through the loop when said attachment is engaged.
 12. The object for adorning footwear of claim 11, wherein said attachment comprises a knob-like protrusion formed to extend from one side of the main piece and at least one of a corresponding slit and/or hole for receiving said knob like protrusion that is spaced away from said protrusion.
 13. The object for adorning footwear of claim 12, wherein said knob-like protrusion is formed with the main piece. 